QL and Patellofemoral Pain?

photo credit: https://www.t-nation.com/training/training-disasters

"Subjects with PFP(patello femoral pain) have a higher prevalence of MTrPs (Myofascial trigger points) in bilateral GMe (gluteus medius)) and QL (quadratus lumborum) muscles. They demonstrate less hip abduction strength compared with controls, but the TPPRT (trigger point pressure release therapy, AKA ischemic compression) did not result in an increase in hip abduction strength. "

It is not surprising that when the hip is involved, the knee will be involved. As Dr. Allen often likes to say "the knee is basically in joint between 2 ball and socket joints ".

The gluteus medius and quadratus lumborum, along with the adductors are coronal plane stabilizers of the pelvis. They both have rotational components to their function as well affecting the hip directly for the former and lumbar spine for the latter. You can see our other QL articles about this here and here.

It is not much of a stretch to imagine that dysfunction of these muscles could result in trigger points and/or dysfunction of the knee (or foot for that matter ) could cause trigger points in these muscles.

Here is an article (1) examining trigger points in the gluteus medius and quadratus lumborum which, if you are familiar with Porterfield and DeRosa's work (2), are intimately linked during gait. We found it interesting that skin nick compression did not increase hip abduction strength where we find dry needling and intramuscular therapy often do.

Don't overlook these muscles and this important relationship.

1. Roach, Sean et al.Prevalence of Myofascial Trigger Points in the Hip in Patellofemoral Pain Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , Volume 94 , Issue 3 , 522 - 526link to free full text article: http://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(12)01079-9/fulltexthttp://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(12)01079-9/fulltext

2. J. Porterfield, C. DeRosa (Eds.) Mechanical low back pain. 2nd ed. WB Saunders, Philadelphia; 1991

Medial knee pain in a skier.   Considering an orthotic?  You had better know what you are doing! 

Can you guess why this gal has pain in both knees? Especially when skinning up a hill and skiing down? 

 Take a close look at the photos above and notice the orientation of her knee with her foot. Now look at you tuberosity and drop a line straight downward.  This line should pass through or slightly lateral to the second metatarsal shaft. Can you see how it falls to the outside of this? Perhaps even between the third and fourth metatarsal?

This gal has bilateral internal tibial torsion.  When she wears a standard foot bed (creates a level surface for the right for the foot) or an orthotic without appropriate posting, it pushes her knee outside of the saggital plane. This creates abnormal patellofemoral tracking  and appears to be a major contributor to her pain. 

 You will notice that we placed a valgus post under the orthotic(  a post that is canted from lateral to medial) which pushes her knee to the midline as the first ray descends.  You can see her alignment is better with her boots on and the changes. 

 The bottom line? Know your torsions and versions.  Posting a patient like this incorrectly could result in a meniscal disaster!

Patello femoral pain? Thinking weak VMO? Think again…

“Atrophy of all portions of the quadriceps muscles is present in the affected limb of people with unilateral PFP. There wasn’t any atrophy of the quadriceps in individuals with PFP compared to those without pathology. Selective atrophy of the VMO relative to the vastus lateralis wasn’t identified in persons with PFP.”

http://www.physiospot.com/research/atrophy-of-the-quadriceps-is-not-isolated-to-the-vastus-medialis-oblique-in-individuals-with-patellofemoral-pain/

Folks with patellofemoarl pain move differently. But they don’t necessarily engage their trunk differntly. We think we all knew this, but here is a study that looks at it. 

“Compared with the control group, the PFP group demonstrated increased ipsilateral trunk lean, hip adduction and knee abduction (p = 0.02-0.04) during single-leg squat accompanied with decreased trunk isometric strength (p = < 0.001-0.009). There was no between-group difference in trunk muscle activation. Only in the control group, ipsilateral trunk lean was significantly correlated with hip adduction (r = -0.66) and knee abduction (r = 0.49); also, the side bridge test correlated with knee abduction (r = -0.51). Differences in trunk, hip and knee biomechanics were found in people with PFP. No relationship among trunk, hip and knee biomechanics was found in the PFP group, suggesting that people with PFP show different movement patterns compared to the control group.”

Man Ther. 2015 Feb;20(1):189-93. doi: 10.1016/j.math.2014.08.013. Epub 2014 Sep 9.Trunk biomechanics and its association with hip and knee kinematics in patients with and without patellofemoral pain.Nakagawa TH¹, Maciel CD², Serrão FV³.